Apple and AT&T drop online sales, iTunes activation

Following yesterday's announcement of the iPhone 3G, AT&T revealed the devices …

Based on what we've seen so far, the announcements concerning the iPhone 3G have been a bit of a mixed bag for prospective owners. Sure, the lack of revenue sharing means good news in the form of a lower price for consumers. But on the other hand, AT&T will be squeezing a few extra dollars out of consumers in exchange for faster data speeds. It gets worse, though. Gizmodo first reported that AT&T and Apple are doing away with both the online ordering and iTunes activation of iPhones and are getting rid of iTunes activation, both of which have been confirmed to us by AT&T's PR folks.

The lack of online ordering is presumably a direct result of AT&T getting rid of iTunes activation, but why the company (or companies) chose to get rid of the process is another question entirely. The iPhone's activation process was considered by many to be a great feature, since it cut down the time spent in the store (and cut down the time interacting with salespeople). According to AT&T, the change is occurring based on feedback from customers, many of which "wanted to complete purchase and activation in one step so they could walk out of the AT&T store with their iPhone up and running."

We, of course, know this is PR speak for "We are subsidizing this biatch and don't want to give anyone an opportunity to not activate it through us. Oh, and something about customers wanting it, or something."

Some people are going to be fairly upset with the change, however the new process is only supposed to take 10-12 minutes. That's 10-12 more minutes than before, though, so there will still be longer lines at AT&T and Apple stores on July 11. It's also unclear whether the online ordering and in-store activation policies will continue in foreign countries, or if they're just an Apple/AT&T thing for lucky US iPhone buyers. At least you'll be getting a cheap(er) iPhone in exchange for that extra 10 minutes in the store.